And the winner is...

So this past weekend was the PBR World Cup that I mentioned earlier. At the end of the first night team Canada was in the lead getting 5 of 6 scores one more than both USA and Brazil. As I had said before Canada was a longshot in this event and no one really saw them as an honest threat so this came as a shock to viewers. Then the second night of competition began and it was as if there was a whole different team Canada competing. They only managed to get 4 of their 6 scores leaving the door open for the competition. As I said before even though my favorite rider was competing for team USA I would have liked to see an upset from a team like Canada that people thought nothing of. In the end team USA did win getting all their scores in on the last night making them untouchable by any other team. Now team Canada did finish second but their performance the second night was less than stellar leaving them dissapointed. Canada team Captain former bull rider Cody Snyder said it best in a post event interview stating that they simply did not stay on enough bulls. In the end that is true if they had gotten all 6 possible scores they would have won the title because they were already ahead by one score. So what happened in that 24 hour time frame between night one and night two? Canada had something to prove and they were riding to win and had that chance but what went wrong? The first thing I think of is the pressue of being chased. Going into the event they had nothing to lose and everthing to gain, but after night one the tables turned and they were the ones to beat meaning they had everything to lose and nothing to gain. The pressure of the moment seemed to have gotten into their heads and things just simply began to crumble. Now team USA was chasing Canada all night one and gained the lead halfway through the second night of comptetition. Team USA was compised of 5 men used to be chased and who expected nothing less than their best so they when put in the lead thrived on setting the pace for the rest of the event. Most bull riders say that bull riding is a largly mental game and that is what the World Cup came down to. The fact of the matter is all those men on all the teams had the physical abilities to win so it was just going to come down to who had the drive and was not going to let the pressure get to their heads. This event was a perfect example of what the mind can do to a bull rider. Team Cananda proved on night one they had the physical and mentaly abilities when the pressure was off but when the pressue was turned on it was almost as if their physical abilities had been drained and they were amatures again. This is sad because Canada had the World Cup in their hands and they just let it go all because they let the pressure of the event get to them. All I can say is that in the end I am proud of the team USA captain JW Hart assembled because they were the strogest team there as well as the only team where everyone pulled their weight proving even more that USA is a force to be reckoned with so contgrats JW,Justin,Kody,JB,LJ and Sean. And a special congrats to JW for getting the team together and to Sean for shutting up all the doubters and proving he belonged on the team.

Why I talk endless about Bull Riding

Bull riding is a sport that I have only just discovered over the past year and a half. Although new I can not help but feel like I have been a fan forever. I try and absorb as much information as I can that involves the sport and the most important names behind it. So although I have not been following the sport around since its humble beginnings 15 years ago I would like to consider myself an authority on the sport. I know that it may seem crazy for some 19 year old from Connecticut to care so much about bull riding but it is something I am passionate about and want to make a career from. I want to work for the PBR and that involves knowing every stat that has affected the history of the sport. I must say as nice as it is to learn about the history that has already happened I get much more enjoyment out of watching history being made. I love being able to say that I was at Dallas when Justin McBride made his return from shoulder injury. I love to say that I remember watching the season as 2 time runner up to the world title Guilherme Marchi has an amazing season that is looking like it is going to end in a world title at long last. I love being able to say I remember all the awe of watching Mike White ride Troubaour in Tulsa and not forget it for weeks to come. It is so much better to be able to say I was there when that happened. I remember the feeling being in the crowd when Justin McBride was being introduced in the rider introductions the crowed was just filled with joy and when he was in the chute getting ready for his first ride in months everyone in the arena was either on the edge of their seat or standing because they understood what they were about to witness. Moments like that are what I love about the sport. These are the moments that you will never forget when looking back. I remember the first event I went to was San Antonio in 2007 where we were all under the impression that Mike Lee and Tyler Smith were co champions. Later it would be discovered there was an error in scoring and Mike Lee would have to settle for second. After the event the riders walked around signing autographs and Mike Lee was the first rider I met. This drunk old lady cuts in front of me and gets a picture with him and she tells him "wow you don't smell like bull shit". and Mike just Cooley replies "well I should cuz I got thrown around in some earlier" Now the reason I remember this is because it was just so cool that he was calm and respectful to the drunk lady who had just made a fool of herself. The little moments like that as well as the major ones that we witness on tv week in and week out that make bull riding the sport that I love and want to be a part of someday.

What does location have to do with it ?

So as most of the world is paying attention to the Olympics in Beijing the bull riding world is focusing on Chihuahua Mexico and the PBR World Cup. For those who don't know the world cup event is basically the Olympics of the PBR just on a way smaller scale. The only event is bull riding and only 5 countries are represented. But one similarity I am finding between the two events is the status that comes with being from a certain country. In swimming you have Australia, in gymnastics you have China and Japan and the US does well in pretty much everything. Well the world cup is the same way. When you look at the statistic of the bull riders competing in the world cup it seems the event is going to be won by either US or Brazil and the other countries are just kinda there. When you look at the top 5 competitors for the world title the top two will be representing Brazil and two will be competing for the US.So I wonder does where you come from really affect your athleticism? As wrong as it may seem my mom and I laugh about team Canada or team Mexico winning for one simple reason:experience. Now any bull rider fitting qualifications can hold a PBR membership card but only the elite 45 in the world can compete on the BFTS where the best bull riders around compete.Looking at the team rosters for the World Cup Canada and Mexico stand in the same position having only one member that has competed on a regular basis in the BFTS, and those two men both have had a hard time staying on the tour. So the reality of them being able to stand up and compete with the two teams consisting all of BFTS regulars are slim to none. Now the upset would be in the hands of team Australia. They only have two BFTS regulars competing and they are riding at a respectable level. But the fact of the matter is that these men all compete for this one organization so why do these two countries have what on paper appears to be the strongest and unbeatable teams? I think honestly it all comes down to opportunity. Look at the current status of Mexico. Although growing and improving most of the country still lives in poverty stricken and undeveloped areas. Bull riding is an expensive sport where the men have to pay for travel expenses and high entry fees to only get a pay check if they perform well. This makes it hard for a lot of Mexican citizens to make it on the expensive tour in the US. Now Canada I see the problem as interest. Canada is not a place you think of as being a breeding ground for cowboys. Kids in Canada generally who want to grow up to be athletes desire to be hockey stars. Now don't get me wrong there are great bull riders to come out of both countries but in general not so much. So does where you come from really stamp you for success in certain athletic endeavors? The fact of the matter is that the current world number 1 and 2 in the PBR do call Brazil home. But does that affect their skills? Would they still be where they are now in the sport if they were born and raised say in Canada or Mexico? Are we cursed to follow what is expected of the countries we are born in or can we change things and become defined by who we are as individuals and not what country we represent? Now I am going to say that even though my favorite rider will be on the US team in the World Cup I am pulling for the underdogs here and wishing that Canada or Mexico can pull it off and represent not only the country they come from but for all the cowboys in their countries waiting for the door to open for them.

How far will you go?

So since I currently have no job I have a lot of free time on my hand. That has lead to me to today. I was reading fan bulletins on the PBR website and some fans were saying that a rider has posted on his myspace page that Superbad is one of his favorite movies so she watched it. With nothing to do and not having seen it I too watched it. It was one of the worst movies that I have ever seen. I like dumb movies more than the next person but seriously oh my god! I came upon the realization the true hardcore fans will endure anything to feel a little bit closer to their favorite rider. I was also going to watch School for Scoundrels because one of my 4 favorites had to watch it in a van when he was stranded on the road in Wyoming going home from an event. After watching Superbad though I have grown fearful of these guys choice of movie. Now don't get me wrong as bull riders they are all fans of the movie 8 Seconds and that was an awesome movie. But as far as having any taste when it comes to movies I think they got hit in the head by a bull too many times. So as the movie finished I wondered what the point was. I just wasted two hours watching some movie that some guy I have met once likes and I have no reason why. It then hit me that I was not the only person who had done this. So I wonder how far will a fan go to try and understand the person they are a fan of. A movie tells you a lot about the person and what they are interested in so I can see that as a reasonable thing to do. But how much farther will people go to get to know someone they are a fan of. I maxed out my credit card and drove 4 hours in the middle of the night and stayed a crappy hotel just so that I could meet my favorite bull riders again. Now don't get my wrong I live with the philosophy that you only live once and they only come to Texas twice so splurge but is the cost really worth it all? I got to witness the return of the defending world champion a moment everyone was waiting for so I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Now some people would call me a crazy person for all this but I see myself as a fan that loves the sport. I hope to work the PBR someday so everything I do is to help me with my career. I want to get to know the riders and be able to write about them as if I were an old friend. I want to be able to look at the memorable moments these guys will recall and say I was there for that and it truly was amazing.I also am a relatively new fan so I feel that I have a lot to make up for because I did not grow up around the sport. I think people look at my generation and see a whole lot of lost potential and I want to prove all the doubters out there and prove I can make my dreams come true. So to all the people out there like me I ask how far will you go to make your dreams come true?